As daylight turned to darkness that evening in June, I writhed in pain in my husband’s arms. Gasping for breath and grasping for comfort, I lay helpless in the face of my first miscarriage. Death had never been so near.
That enemy reigned in my womb as I went on to miscarry two more babies. I wondered if life would ever flourish there—would God give us a child we could know on earth? As I write these words in September, our fourth child is currently nestled in my womb. I’m praying that by the time this reaches your inbox in December, this little boy will be cradled in the nook of my arm. As his due date approaches, I’m often confronted with the memories of losing his siblings. The trauma, physical pain, the deep grief—they cause me to shudder. As I anticipate the pain of labor in the coming days, my mind is tempted to dwell on “what ifs” only God can answer. Fear is another enemy I know all too well.
Maybe you do too? Perhaps your heart races when your children spike fevers, worried it’s something more. Maybe it’s hard to watch them on the playground because you fear injury, brain damage, or death. Tragedies you’ve read about on the internet plague your mind, causing you to imagine them afflicting your family. Maybe your head is filled with anxious thoughts of losing your husband or dying yourself, leaving your children without a mother. Maybe you worry that your pending adoption could fall through. Or you may, like me, be fearful of the pain of labor or the possibilities of all that could go wrong.
The Christmas story offers good company to those of us who are fearful. I imagine fear filled the hearts of the people of God before Jesus came. They were waiting and longing for the promised Messiah but it seemed as though God had vanished. 400 years had passed since he last sent word of his presence. Perhaps they feared that the promised King would never come—that God had forgotten them. But a virgin would carry the answer to their fears in her womb, birthing him into the world he came to save.
Mary was “greatly troubled” when the angel appeared to tell her that she was carrying this child. And the angel spoke to her fear, saying,
“Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end” (Luke 1:30–33).
The shepherds were “filled with great fear” when an angel of the Lord appeared in the night while they were keeping watch over their sheep to tell them the Promised One had come. And he spoke to their fear, saying,
“Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger” (Luke 2:10–12).
The shepherds received news of the Good Shepherd—the long-awaited Savior. The promised seed of David, whose throne would endure forever, was finally here(2 Sam. 7:12–13).
Hope had come. This news would bring great joy to the weary hearts of the Israelites. The sacrifice of animals wasn’t enough to cleanse their sin. Though they fervently tried to be righteous according to the Law, they must have felt the fruitlessness of their efforts. On this night, the answer to every person’s biggest problem was born. Our greatest need and deepest fear, relieved.
Where does this meet us in our current fears? How does this calm my fear of labor and loss and your fear of sickness and death? For those who are in Christ, the worst thing that can happen to us is banished by Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. Honestly, what else do we have to fear? We know how the story ends: eternity with him, where all our fears and tears are wiped away (Rev. 21:4). No more sickness, sorrow, or death. If we trust him with saving us from hell, can we not trust him with every moment of our lives—including the grievous and pain-filled ones?
He doesn’t promise to give me an easy labor ending with a healthy baby, or to give any of us an easy life. But he does promise to carry us through to eternity and work all things—even suffering—for our ultimate good (Rom. 8:28–30). And, even if the most tragic circumstance we can think up comes to pass, the death of Christ won for us the presence of God, and he has promised to never leave our side (Heb. 13:5).
Jesus himself speaks to our fears in the same way the angel spoke to those of the characters in the Christmas story, saying, “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32).
Truly, our Lord declares, “’I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we can confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?’” (Heb. 13:5–6). We are safe in the Savior’s arms.
QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION/ APPLICATION:
1. What are you afraid of? Do any of Brittany’s proposed fears speak to yours?
2. How does the coming of Christ relieve our greatest need and deepest fear?
3. Though God does not promise a life free of trouble, what promises do believers receive because of the death and resurrection of Jesus? What difference do these promises make as you face your fears?
Brittany is a follower of Christ, wife to James and Mama to Theodore and three in Heaven. She exists to bring God glory and prays her writing is an avenue for that. She longs to help other women see Jesus as their ultimate Treasure. Find her writing on her blog at https://brittleeallen.com/or on Instagram @brittleeallen.